Senior sports writer for The Age

St Kilda will consider trading the first pick in the national draft if it finishes on the bottom, as the club explores all avenues available to rebuild the playing list and bring success.

And the Saints, who sit on the bottom and are short odds to remain there, will discuss whether they approach the AFL about a priority draft pick – which the AFL can grant to a club, but would likely be at the end of the first round, if at all – ‘‘in the coming weeks’’.

St Kilda’s head of football Chris Pelchen, who is managing what he called the most difficult list rebuild he and others have been involved with, confirmed that the club would consider its options – such as trading the choice – if it finished with the No.1 pick in the national draft.

‘‘If we do finish with the first selection in this year’s draft, all avenues will be explored to bring greatest benefit to the club,’’ said Pelchen, who said the current system was more difficult for a bottom team than ever before and that the club had to be ‘‘creative’’.

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Many clubs do not see that there is a clear standout in the national draft this year, and there is speculation that the Saints will seek to trade – perhaps in the manner that Melbourne exchanged pick No.2 for pick No.9 and Dom Tyson – on the grounds that the Dees needed more than one player.

Pelchen said of the possibility that the Saints, who have not won a game since round five, would seek a priority pick at the discretion of the AFL: "Approaching the AFL concerning discretionary assistance is a matter that will be discussed in coming weeks.

"We are not about to whimper or complain. We understand the system and why it has been designed as it has in recent times. Whatever the challenges in front of us, we are getting on with the job of making this club a success again.’’

While others within the industry have noted that the Saints chose to trade Brendon Goddard, Nick Dal Santo and Ben McEvoy and thus sped their own fall to the bottom, Pelchen said the club’s decisions were made to ‘‘accelerate’’ the recovery – in essence that the club wanted shorter, sharper pain.

‘‘A number of issues have contributed to the decline of our player list in recent years, but those decisions within our control have been made to accelerate the recovery," Pelchen said.

‘‘We haven’t wanted to wallpaper over the cracks in our list, but rather acknowledge the problems and address them accordingly.

‘‘While free agency is unlikely to be a focus until we establish a stronger talent base, we will continue to be active during the trade period – including giving consideration to all options around our first selection in the draft.

‘‘The current system makes it more difficult than ever before. Consequently, we need to be creative in our recruiting activities and consider all options available to us.’’